College Bowl Broadcast of March 8, 1959
The College Bowl broadcast on Sunday, March 8, 1959, was a contest between teams representing the University of Notre Dame of South Bend, Indiana, and Georgetown University of Washington, D. C. The competition was broadcast from McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown University campus. Background The College Bowl program itself debuted Jan. 4, 1959, and Georgetown University first appeared Jan. 25, going on to claim a four-game winning streak: Teams Broadcast Questions posed by host Allen Ludden tested the triviality of current events while others focused on specific fields of study such as mathematics or literature. Both teams answered questions with Notre Dame leading at half time, 95 to 25: "Many times all four members of the Notre Dame team buzzed at once while only two members of the opposition answered questions correctly. Brian Moran and Captain Tom Banchoff, both math majors, were given plenty of opportunity to use their knowledge. The famous four and twenty-black birds and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner figured in one mathematical question that they answered correctly. Andrew Connelly and John Bellairs demonstrated an extensive knowledge of literature as Connelly in particular came up with several obscure titles for answersNotre Dame Scholastic, Vol. 100, No. 17 -- March 15, 1959.. Banchoff recalls one of the mathematics questions that was missed, a challenge to total the integers corresponding to the word GENIUS using the standard substitution cipher, A = 1, B = 2, etc. "Brian and Andy and I immediately wrote down the numbers U = 21 and S = 19 (since I knew that T = 20) and N = 14 since that is where the alphabet splits. It is easy to get I = 9, E = 5 and G = 7. I added too fast and got 65 while Brian had the right answer, 75. He was the first to finish his check and he said, 'You're right, 65' and I gave that answer as captain. We were appalled when the quiz master gave the answer since we still had about fifteen seconds to go, plenty of time to have been sure." The error caused "great amusement" to their English major teammates. Banchoff also recalled an inspired cameraman focused first on him, Connelly, and Moran working furiously and then on Bellairs, who was just staring unconcernedly into space chewing on the end of his pencil. Quoting Chaucer In the second half of the game bonus points were offered for every line of Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales that the team could quote in Middle English. "It was well known that John and Andy were humanities scholars and that John was a Chaucer expert. John was the first to hit his buzzer. Any of us could have identified the reference, but John was able to reel off the next dozen or so lines, a strikingly erudite performance. He would have gone on but the point had been made.Correspondence with Thomas Banchoff." "That was like throwing a lamb chop to a wolf. He used to be able to empty rooms with that very recitation.Correspondence with Alfred Myers." Bowen doesn't know if Bellairs contributed more correct answers than anyone else, but confirms he ran up the score with the bonus points. "It looked as if he would get through the entire Prologue and half of the Knight's Tale before he ran out of breath -- but there was a maximum score and they stopped him much sooner than that. Georgetown had ruled for an ungodly number of weeks, so it seemed a significant triumph and John certainly did his part to make our ephemeral victory a sweet one.Correspondence with Charles Bowen." During the commercial break Ludden commented on Bellairs's ability to not only to buzz in quickly but also speak fluently in Middle English. Bellairs responded matter-of-factly: "My mother is Middle English. When I was a child, we spoke it at home all the time." Gibson later recalled that even though all the contestants, the students, and the host broke out in laughter, after the program and beyond, the team and their various friends believed Ludden had taken the "Middle" in Middle English to be geographical or regional - something like Southern or Midwestern EnglishCorrespondence with Phillips Gibson.. Program Notes Ludden interviewed the team on-camera during the program: * Moran and Banchoff both discussed their major, with Banchoff adding that in light of the math question they missed perhaps he shouldn't admit it. * Connelly, when asked what he does, promptly replied "Waste time." * Bellairs announced that besides his studies as an English major, he wrote a weekly humor column for the Scholastic, thereby spreading "sunshine and culture" throughout the University. When asked if he felt that he was a full blown humorist Bellairs answered immediately "Isn't it obvious." Score The University of Notre Dame defeated Georgetown University, 205 to 90. Post-script Gallery College Bowl (1959 0308 ticket).png|March 1959 ticket between Georgetown and Notre Dame College Bowl (1959 0308 gu team).png|William Donovan, Dennis Duffy, Mike Hughes, and Timothy Murphy were members of the undefeated Georgetown University team. College Bowl (1959 0308 scene).png|Brian Moran, Thomas Banchoff, Andrew Connelly, and John Bellairs being interviewed by host Allen Ludden. References Category:Things Category:Washington D.C. things Category:University of Notre Dame